Nepo Baby Projects That Were All Kinds Of Controversial (2024)

The Nepo Baby: Gwyneth Paltrow, daughter of actress Blythe Danner and director Bruce Paltrow.

The Project:As the name implies, this is a documentary series about Gwyneth Paltrow's wellness company, Goop. It deals with alternative lifestyle and wellness topics, ranging from female sexuality and psychedelic drugs to mediumship and energy healing.

The Controversy: Goop has always been associated with pseudoscience - they were once forced to pay a $145,000 fine for making false claims about their “jade eggs” - which are inserted vaginally - helping with bladder control and better orgasms. In reality, it is more likely to cause a bacterial infection.

The documentary series contains even more misinformation. Some of their claims can be partially substantiated by research, like the idea that using psychedelic drugs can help with psychiatric symptoms. However, the Goop Lab also promotes practices that are not only false but also actively dangerous.

Vampire facials, for example, involve smearing a person's blood all over their face. A spa in Albuquerque was actually shut down after two clients tested positive for HIV.

In an interview with Mashable, Gwyneth dismissed the criticism, stating:

We think that that's all clickbait and bullsh*t. People are able to criticise us now in opportunistic ways. It's a cheap and easy way to try and drive traffic to these sites.

The Controversy: Lily-Rose Depp, daughter of actor Johnny Depp and singer Vanessa Paradis.

The Project:The Idol is a five-episode TV series about a pop star trying to reclaim her former glory after a nervous breakdown. In the process, she starts a complicated relationship with a cult leader.

The Controversy: The production issues that came up during the show's development were, as one source put it, "wildly, disgustingly off the rails." When the show was about 80% finished, director Amy Seimetz quit. It's not clear exactly why, but co-creator The Weeknd was apparently unhappy with the creative direction of the show and felt that it focused too much on the “female perspective.”

Sam Levinson took over as director and changed the story in a way that many of the people involved were not happy with. One production member said:

It was like any rape fantasy that any toxic man would have in the show — and then the woman comes back for more because it makes her music better.

Lily-Rose played the main female character. Despite all the problems, she had mostly positive things to say about the experience:

Never have I felt more supported or respected in a creative space, my input and opinions more valued. Working with Sam is a true collaboration in every way — it matters to him, more than anything, not only what his actors think about the work, but how we feel performing it.

The Nepo Baby:Robin Thicke, son of actor Alan Thicke and actress Gloria Loring.

The Project:Co-written by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, this 2013 pop and R&B song describes a man attempting to pick up a woman at a club.

The Controversy: “Blurred Lines” quickly attracted criticism for lyrics that seemed to promote violence against women. Lyrics cited included:

Tried to domesticate you
But you're an animal
Baby, it's in your nature (uh huh)
Just let me liberate you (uh huh)

and

I hate these blurred lines (hate them lines)
I know you want it (I hate them lines)

These lyrics were thought to imply that consent isn't really important and that women who say no are secretly saying yes.

Robin didn't exactly do a good job of defending himself. In an interview with GQ, he said that the song wasn't a problem because he and the other men involved were happily married. He also claimed that it was degrading to women, but that that was a good thing:

We were like, ‘We’re the perfect guys to make fun of this. People say, ‘Hey, do you think this is degrading to women?’ I’m like, ‘Of course it is. What a pleasure it is to degrade a woman. I’ve never gotten to do that before. I’ve always respected women.’

So we just wanted to turn it over on its head and make people go, women and their bodies are beautiful. Men are gonna want to follow them around.

The Nepo Baby: Nicola Peltz Beckham, daughter of billionaire businessman and investor Nelson Peltz and daughter-in-law to soccer player David Beckham and former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham.

The Project:This drama film features Lola (played by Nicola), a young woman who works as both an exotic dancer and a grocer. She works both jobs in the hopes of making enough money to move herself and her little brother out of their abusive mother's home.

The Controversy: Nicola used her wealth and connections to make a movie that journalist Kady Ruth Ashcraft called “poverty porn.” That is, it exploits and sensationalizes the traumatic experiences faced by the poor. Nicola was born into wealth and doesn't seem to have done much research into what it might be like to live differently. She said that she "wanted to write a story from a person’s perspective and another point of view that was not my personal view and not my upbringing. I am an actress and my dream is to get to look at the world from different perspectives.”

Despite these intentions, many people didn't think that she succeeded in depicting those different perspectives in a realistic or nuanced way.

The Nepo Baby: Ben Platt, son of producer Marc Platt.

The Project:Dear Evan Hansen is a Broadway musical centering around a teenage boy who pretends to have been close friends with a classmate who took his own life.It would later be adapted into a film in 2021.

The Controversy: In both the original stage run and film version of Dear Evan Hansen, Evan was played by Ben Platt, who was 27 when the film was released. Evan is a teenager, which makes the casting more than a little awkward. So, why did he get the role? It could be because he originally played the character in the musical and the production felt like he was the best person to continue the role. But it could also be that his father was one of the film's producers.

In response to accusations of nepotism, Ben said:

The reaction is largely from people that don't understand the context of the piece. The fact that I created the role and workshopped it for 3 years, and did all of the out-of-town performances, and originated it on Broadway, and received the accolades that I did... and also not really understanding that were I not to do the movie, it probably wouldn't get made.

The Nepo Baby: Chet Hanks, son of actor Tom Hanks and actress Rita Wilson.

The Project:“White Boy Summer” is a 2021 hip-hop song that offers advice to white men about how to dress and behave. Its title references Megan Thee Stallion's 2019 song “Hot Girl Summer.”

The Controversy: As you might have guessed based on the phrase “white boy,” this song quickly became about race in the worst way possible. The song was used as a rallying cry and propaganda tool for far-right hate groups like the Proud Boys and White Lives Matter.

Chet Hanks claims that he had no racist intent when he created the song. On Instagram, he said:

White boy summer was created to be fun, playful, and a celebration of fly white boys who love beautiful queens of every race.

Anything else that it has been twisted into to support any kind of hate or bigotry against any group of people is deplorable and I condemn it.

I hope that we all can spread love to each other and treat each other with kindness and dignity.

Love,
Chet Hanks